Morning MoneyBeat Europe: Will the ECB Crank Up QE?

Please feel free to send this email to friends and colleagues and include this link so they can sign up to receive it for free too http://on.wsj.com/MoneyBeatEuropeSignup

Follow us on Twitter @WSJMoneyBeat.

China’s stock indexes may be closed for a holiday, but European markets aren’t likely to see much reprieve from the action. Why? Well it's European Central Bank policy meeting day, and Friday’s U.S. jobs report is, of course, looming.

Markets have opened strongly higher after Wall Street stocks snapped a three-day losing streak Wednesday. That could all change when ECB President Mario Draghi takes the stage.

The ECB’s main interest rate is widely expected to hold steady at 0.05%, though the actual interest rate decision is likely to be less important than the central bank’s statement and Q&A. Some investors are wagering that recent weakness in China, a stronger euro and weakened inflation expectations could encourage the ECB to crank the program up. Any hints of that could send ripples through stocks, currencies and bonds.

Meanwhile, markets are also focused on Friday’s jobs report as investors try to parse the Federal Reserve’s next move. The Fed’s Beige Book sent mixed signals Wednesday for central bankers, portraying the U.S. economy overall as continuing to expand at a moderate pace but pointing out obstacles like a strong dollar and weakness oversees. The IMF also warned late Wednesday that China’s slowdown could push the global economy into deeper trouble, and called for "strong mutual policy action" to raise growth.

-- Riva Gold

Market Snapshot: FTSE 100 up 1.65%, CAC 40 up 1.62% and DAX up 1.88%. Nikkei closed Thursday up 0.48%. Brent crude down 0.65% at $50.17. Gold down 0.13% at $1132.10. EUR/USD at $1.1234. Ten-year Treasury yield flat at 2.18%, Bund yield flat at 0.78%, Gilt yield flat at 1.81%.

What You May Have Missed on MoneyBeat

Five Points to Watch in the ECB's September Meeting: Is it time to take the European Central Bank’s stimulus off cruise control? This is the key question heading into Thursday’s policy meeting. The ECB has been buying roughly €60 billion ($67.7 billion) per month in public and private bonds–mostly government bonds–since March. The program, known as quantitative easing or QE, is intended to run at least through September 2016.

Here Are the European Stocks That Had the Worst Time in August: Energy and commodity companies may have been the most obvious victims of a rough August for the European stock market, pulled down by the twin perils of a falling oil price and China’s slowdown. But banks didn’t escape the drubbing either. Premier League Transfer Window Makes Most of a Weaker Euro: The summer merry-go-round of players in English Premier League soccer has concluded, and once again a record-breaking amount has been spent on poaching players. The bill has come in at a whopping £870 million ($1.3 billion), up 4% on last year.

U.K. Hedge Fund Partner Exits After Two Months: A senior member of U.K. hedge fund Cheyne Capital’s equities team has left after just two months, only a fortnight after the departure of the $5 billion-plus alternatives firm’s head of equities after roughly a year in the role.

Investors Moved Money From Stocks to Cash, Bonds in August: Amid the S&P 500’s swift plunge into correction territory, investors reduced their equity exposure and added to their cash pile in August.

Is There An IPO Silver Lining In Nasdaq’s 2015 Sell-Off?: At least one group of investors might be cheering for the Nasdaq Composite to finish with a down year: buyers of initial public offerings.

Bill Gross: Fed May Have ‘Missed Their Window’ on Rate Hike: Bill Gross, the one-time “Bond King” known for his decades-long bullish calls on the bond market, his messy divorce from the firm he co-founded, and his sometimes rather uncomfortable personal references in his monthly investment outlooks, is out with a look at the mess in the markets in this month’s letter.

From The Wall Street Journal

Global Markets Bounce Back: Global markets were broadly higher ahead of the European Central Bank’s regular monetary policy meeting and a closely watched jobs report out of the U.S. later in the week.

Tsipras Moves Greece Past Austerity Debate: Greeks can now have a conventional political debate on the choices needed to hit its bailout targets.

Giant U.S. Pension Fund to Propose Shift Away From Stocks, Bonds : The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the nation’s second-largest pension fund, is considering a significant shift away from some stocks and bonds amid turbulent markets world-wide.

Oil Prices Move Higher in Volatile Trade: Oil prices surged from losses to gains twice on Wednesday, the latest in a series of roller-coaster sessions for crude.

As Market Bets Abound, Where Are Banks?: As Wall Street brims with tales of hedge-fund fortunes made and lost amid recent market gyrations, banks have been stuck on the sidelines, hamstrung by postcrisis rules governing what risks they can take.